Troy Davis Nephew De’Jaun Davis-Correia on What’s Next

Antone De’Jaun Davis-Correia was more than proud to be selected as one of The Root’s 25 Young Futurists last year; he was relieved. He saw it as validation of his work to abolish the death penalty. But since receiving that honor in February of 2011, the teen, who goes by “De’Jaun,” lost his grandmother, his uncle was executed and his mother died of cancer.

De’Jaun, 17, of Savannah, Ga., was born into the debate about capital punishment. His uncle, Troy Davis, was already on death row for the August 1989 murder of police officer Mark MacPhail.

Davis was executed on Sept. 21, 2011, after a last-minute appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court failed. He maintained his innocence until the end, in a case that drew widespread media attention.

Less than three months later, Martina Correia, who was the face of the effort to free her brother, died of cancer.

“When she died in the hospital, I wasn’t sad at all,” De’Jaun told The Root. “She was calm. She didn’t have anything else to worry about. She was up there with my uncle and grandmother.”

As a kid, De’Jaun watched his mother, a volunteer with Amnesty International, speak about her brother’s case around the world. De’Jaun joined her crusade, giving his first speech when he was in the seventh grade.

About the author

Kushi Amlak-Sakhu has been a volunteer with 4WardEver UK since 2007/2008. He assists with researching information and submitting them for inclusion on the website, and manages other on-line resources developed by 4WardEver and its associate organisations.
4WardEver UK was launched in 2006 by Tippa Naphtali the cousin of Mikey Powell, who died in the custody of West Midlands police, Birmingham, UK in September 2003.